Chapter 38
38
Ruth
Mia showed up at the cafe after school on Tuesday as we’d arranged. She dived into the tasks I allotted her with an enthusiasm I envied. The hour passed far quicker than it would have if I’d been on my own. Laurie’s knee was giving him ongoing strife and I’d demanded he take the week off from doing the floors. I wasn’t expecting Hamish to show up in his place and when he didn’t, I had a job convincing myself I didn’t feel a sliver of disappointment. On Monday, after I’d picked up my car with its new battery, I’d stopped by Hamish’s house. I’d had time to consider all things Hamish on the return drive to Cutlers Bay. We had a lot in common: both single and around the same age; no children or other hangers-on; and, from several childhood memories he’d shared, his suburban upbringing had not been hugely dissimilar to my own. I’d also considered just how well Hamish actually was doing since his father’s death and had become reconciled to the fact that if I wanted the friendship back on track, it would be up to me to make it happen. Of course I didn’t say all that in the note I left when he didn’t answer the door, I simply apologised for any misunderstandings and invited him around for a meal on Friday night.
On Thursday, the weather changed. Mild, gloriously sunny days had heralded in autumn but in the space of twenty-four hours, wintry weather hit. The cafe smelled of damp clothing laced with mothballs. I turned the air conditioner to heat mode. I’d had no reply from Hamish and I’d begun to worry. Was this his way of telling me it was over, whatever it had been? I couldn’t believe he’d be that callous. It just didn’t mesh with what I knew of the man. Had he even found my note? A gust of wind could easily have blown it away.
When Mia arrived after school it was still blustery and raining. She whipped through the floors and restocked the fridges.
‘You haven’t seen Hamish in your travels, have you?’ I asked when she came into the kitchen. I was preparing ingredients for tomorrow’s special: vegetable soup and chicken-filled toasties.
She shook her head. ‘Can’t say I’ve even noticed his ute in the driveway, but then I’m out at school all day and then here. Maybe he’s gone to Adelaide or something.’
‘Maybe,’ I said, not convinced.
She started wrapping cutlery in paper serviettes and we worked side by side in companionable silence, the rain thrumming on the roof. Every now and then there was a gust of wind that rattled through the building and the swishy, splashy sound of a vehicle passing by on the wet road.
‘I’ve messaged Mum to come pick me up,’ Mia said when her hour was almost up.
Not long after, there was a loud knock on the kitchen door before a dripping umbrella preceded Allie inside.
‘What a day!’ she said, propping the soggy brolly in the handbasin. I hadn’t clapped eyes on her since the last day she’d worked for me and I couldn’t believe how pleased I was to see her.
‘How are you?’ I said and wiped my hands on a tea towel.
Myriad expressions crossed her familiar face before she settled on a resigned smile. ‘Fair to middling. It’s good to see you, Ruth.’ She glanced around the cosy kitchen. ‘I miss this place more than I ever imagined I would.’
‘How is the new job?’
She made a so-so motion with her hand. ‘The politics of the place! Just unbelievable.’ She cast a furtive glance her daughter’s way. Mia was hanging on her every word. ‘I’ll get used to it,’ Allie said and forced a bright smile. ‘You ready to go, sweetie?’
‘Yep. Mum, have you seen Hamish lately? I haven’t. Ruth was asking.’
For a split second Allie looked like a deer in the headlights. She cleared her throat. ‘Not since Monday afternoon,’ she said. She pulled a fifty-dollar note and a slip of paper out of her pocket. ‘Mia, be an angel and pop to the supermarket for me?’ She held out the money and the note.
Mia screwed up her face. ‘But it’s raining,’ she said, sounding just like a whiny teenager.
‘Take the umbrella. I’ll pick you up out front in fifteen minutes,’ Allie said in what I recognised as her ‘don’t mess with me’ tone.
I looked from mother to daughter. I could tell Mia was on the verge of arguing, but then she didn’t. She snatched the money and note from her mother’s outstretched hand, grabbed the umbrella and slammed the door on her way out. Allie gave her head a tiny shake.
‘What’s going on?’ I said.
She ran her tongue around her teeth and then proceeded to tell me about an altercation Hamish had had with Brett on Monday afternoon, apparently over Cody and his mate’s reckless behaviour on their bikes. ‘Without a doubt, Brett acted like a moron, but Hamish’s reaction was over the top, or so I thought,’ she said. ‘Cody’s a good kid, but that Noah Collins …’
Now was not the time to disclose what I’d witnessed when I’d ducked out to the supermarket the afternoon before: Cody and his mates had been huddled together in the area beside the public amenities and I’d swear on a stack of bibles they were vaping. When Cody saw me, he’d quickly hidden something behind his back. Cody probably was a good kid, but he was also a teenager in a peer group of kids who might not be as well behaved because they hadn’t had a mother like Allie.
‘Perhaps Hamish has gone away. It’s just that I left him a note on Monday afternoon and I haven’t heard from him.’
‘Like I said, I haven’t seen him since Monday afternoon when I got home from work. But now that I think about it, his place has been all shut up, the blinds drawn. Why don’t you ring him?’
‘I might pop around later, see if his ute’s in the garage. Anything can happen when you live on your own. Maybe he’s sick.’
Allie frowned. ‘I never thought of that. He always looks so fit, but there is a pretty bad stomach bug going around. Does he have anyone who checks in on him every now and then?’
‘I honestly don’t know. He has several mates, a sister, nieces, but I get the impression none of them are close.’ And me. I hadn’t been a very good friend to him, had I? He’d check in to see if I was okay and I knew he kept an eye out for Laurie. How had I not thought to repay his kindness by checking in on him?
I grabbed my phone off the bench and scrolled through to his number. He didn’t pick up. I ripped off my apron and threw it on the bench. ‘Something’s not right. I’m going around there right now.’
Allie didn’t appear surprised. She left through the kitchen door and I locked up after her. After I’d turned everything off, I hurried through to the flat to collect my car keys. And would you believe it, the damned car would not start. Dead as a doornail. Didn’t even make the grinding, clunking sound it had before. If Gordon had been there I would have strangled him.
Luckily, the rain had eased, but a fine drizzle had set in. I donned a raincoat and rummaged through the laundry cupboard for the umbrella I hadn’t eyeballed since last winter. It took ten minutes for me to power around to East Terrace. I dodged puddles along the way. Motorists had their headlights on in the dreary, drizzly streets.
Hamish’s house looked particularly dismal and when I peered in through the garage louvres and found an empty space, my legs almost crumpled with relief. Not that I’d thought for a second—or perhaps I had, subconsciously. After what Allie had told me and Hamish’s own admission days before that he’d been feeling down … No. Never. But then I didn’t know him all that well, did I?
The front and back doors were locked, even the screen doors, and the note was where I’d left it. Autumn leaves had swirled in onto the verandah.
‘No-one home?’
I spun around at the sound of Allie’s voice. I hadn’t heard her walk up the driveway. She had on a bright yellow raincoat and a black beanie.
‘The garage is empty,’ I said. ‘The bin hasn’t been put out and there’s not much rubbish in it.’
‘Aren’t you the detective?’ She nudged me with her elbow. ‘I’d say he’s gone to see friends or family for a few days.’
It was beginning to appear that way. We walked along the driveway to the gate. ‘I’m glad I came around,’ I said, mainly for my own benefit.
‘I would have offered to stop by and investigate except that I had Mia with me and she’s too curious by a mile. Where’s your car?’
‘Bloody thing won’t start. I just bought a new battery for it. Gordon will be hearing from me.’
‘Come with me and I’ll run you home,’ she said.
‘Thanks, but I’ll walk. The exercise will do me good, or so my GP says. Thanks for coming over. I guess he’ll be back, eventually.’
Allie’s eyebrows disappeared under the edge of her beanie but she didn’t comment and I was grateful for that. She’d know all about men who came and went whenever they chose and the confusion left in their wake.